


harbingers of hope

by stormtongue



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Canon Divergence - Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Family Feels, Feels, Fix-It, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Not comics compliant, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Valhalla, shameless butchering of Norse mythology, well more of a fix-it setup
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-05
Updated: 2018-05-05
Packaged: 2019-05-02 18:38:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14550888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stormtongue/pseuds/stormtongue
Summary: Before the snap, Thor dies in Wakanda and goes to Valhalla. He isn't finished with Thanos just yet.





	harbingers of hope

_In the last realm | silver and black_

_Stands Valhalla stretching wide;_

_And there does Death | each day choose_

_The men who have fallen in fight._

 

_Easy it is to know | for him who to Death_

_Comes and beholds the hall;_

_Its rafters are spears | with shields it is roofed_

_On its benches are breastplates strewn._

 

_Five hundred doors | and forty there are,_

_I ween, in Valhalla’s walls;_

_Of all the homes | whose roofs I beheld,_

_Death’s the greatest meseemed._

 

_Easy it is to know | for him who to Death_

_Comes and beholds the hall,_

_Where the dead shall live | nothing to want_

_In unceasing comfort forevermore._

 

_There Valgrind stands | the sacred gate,_

_And behind are holy doors;_

_Old is the gate, | but one there is_

_Who can tell how it tightly is locked._

 

_Yggdrasil’s ash | great evil suffers_

_Far more than men do know;_

_The hart bites its top | its trunk is rotting_

_And the titan gnaws beneath._

 

-adopted from the Grimnismol, stanzas 8-10, 22-23, 35

 

* * *

 

Thor could only hold them off so long. Even with Stormbreaker, even with the power of a dying star raging through his hands, even the mightiest Avenger must eventually meet his demise. He wasn’t ashamed of it. He was proud, really, to have protected his friends and the realm he loved so dearly like this. Sacrifice was his destiny; at least his loss wasn’t for nothing. Truly, it was a good way to go.

 

Broken and battered, but never defeated. He wasn’t done on Midgard, or with any of the known cosmos. He certainly wasn’t done with Thanos. This he was sure of. Thor would be back.

 

He fought harder in the Battle of Wakanda than he ever had, and this was saying a lot. Let it never be said that Thor Odinson gave up. But he knew futility when he saw it. He had lost enough now to recognize when forfeit was the best strategy. Sure, he had never been renowned for wisdom or cleverness, he knew that. He also admitted that he had been overshadowed in those departments by someone far his superior, happily. But he knew he had picked something up from Loki sometime during their long years.

 

Thor was different now. Thor knew loss like he knew love. The two were so intertwined now that he could no longer tell the difference. And he knew nothing beyond them.

 

This was fine. This was his fate.

 

Before Ragnarok, he wouldn’t have seen it. He would have kept fighting until he was torn apart, delaying the inevitable until he was driven mad with fear and bloodlust and agony. Exchanging his sanity and his body for nothing at all. Before Ragnarok, he saw the journey, and never the end, doomed to continue looking one step ahead for eternity, never learning the finale. This he was sure of: Odin was right, Hela was right, _Loki_ was right about him. But now he knew the end, and there was light left behind it. He was determined to wrest it out.

 

Thor was a tool now. A tool forged to defeat Thanos. Nothing else. He would find a way.

 

He was empty, and all the better to be a conduit for the glorious lightning. He basked in its might and it repaid him in doom. Thor had become his power. He was not the man Thor anymore, but the god, the embodiment of righteous rage and protection and _compassion_ . And he had utilized it, and it had dried up, and now here he was. His mortal body dead and discarded on the fertile Wakandan soil to be desecrated by those monstrous Black Order beasts, no doubt. It was disgusting, he knew, but at least there was a _him_ to know still. He had made the right choice. His mind was intact, his soul was intact, his heart was intact. And here, in Valhalla, he was more whole than he had been in years.

 

Thor had changed. Thor had a plan. And here, he had allies.

 

* * *

 

Valhalla looked exactly how Thor had always pictured it. It was as ingrained in Asgardian lore as battle; he had spent his entire life knowing exactly where he would go after his beating heart had stopped, and now he found that all of his expectations were founded. It was the ultimate comfort: a warm embrace of peace and safety that was final, eternal, the end. All the rest of his days, free from danger, with his entire family and his oldest friends. A paradise.

 

His entire family... no. Would Loki be here?

 

Thor squeezed his eye shut.

 

Oh, right. _Eye_. Guess the Norns thought one eye was sufficient for Valhalla.

 

He wouldn’t be seeing Loki again. Ever. Loki wasn’t Aesir. It pained him to know it, but he doubted Valhalla would recognize adoption. As far as he knew, no Asgardian had ever raised a child from a different realm, so there was no precedent, but Thor didn’t want to do so much as hope that he would be seeing Loki again. He had lost him enough times. He wouldn’t let himself create another from nothing.

 

Thor looked up. He was outside and alone, somewhere cold and dark, but the hall in front of him, the largest he had ever seen, had golden light shining out its windows and smoke rising from its many chimneys. Gently falling snow kissed his hair and melted on his still-exposed scalp and black eyepatch, but it gave him no shiver, no discomfort. He started to climb the steep stairs up to the hall. He knew exactly what he would find inside. Save the one thing that he wished to be wrong about.

 

The joyful noise of a raucous party grew louder with each step. He could smell it now: mead, wine, baking bread, roasting boar, and something distinctly sweet all mingled together but singularly recognizable. The smell alone brought a smile to his face, and he stopped in place before a massive, pale-wooden door. No more thinking about Loki, no more worrying about what lay behind him, abandoned in the fragile universe. Only Valhalla now. He wanted to crystallize this moment forever. He had surpassed his worst moment, and was about to take the first leap forward into his reward. Into hope, into optimism. In the infinite future to come, he needed to preserve this memory.

 

He still had a mission, yes, he still had a plan. Thor would figure out a way to go back and fix it. He wasn’t giving up. It was hard, probably the hardest thing he’d ever do, but was it not also the easiest decision? To go back, to bring his army and his family, to bring Asgard to Midgard, his first love to his last love, and finish the job? The decision was effortless. It was what heroes did. He would figure out exactly _when_ and _how_ later.

 

Thor broadened his shoulders, reached a bare arm out, and knocked.

 

The door swung open and Thor nearly staggered backwards at the sheer sound funneling through the threshold. The sea of friendly faces dragged him in, embracing him as one. The entire hall had seemingly rushed out to greet him, and now each of the honorable dead wanted their turn to cry and laugh and drink with him. They had no sadness for him, for he was here, he was one of them, and they were together. Any melancholy he had for his friends on Midgard was stowed away in a sentimental part of him and was rushingly replaced with joy and memory and gladness. And he never had to leave it. This feeling could be eternal.

 

His own name echoing thousands of times over in his ears, Thor tried to reciprocate each of the embraces he was offered, never letting himself tire of hearing their too-loud, tipsy cries of _“We missed you!”_ and _“Thor has returned!”_. He accepted every drink pushed in his direction, every leg of turkey, every promise of telling his tales since the rest of them had entered Valhalla.

 

But it wasn’t quite enough to fill the emptiness. Thor knew what would be.

 

There had to be a high table here, right? Surely, that was where his father and mother and brother would be sitting. He would only have to push his way through the revelers and they would be there, waiting for him to join them. He knew it. If Valhalla was perfect, Loki would be here. It had been so long since he had seen Frigga... and Odin... that loss was still so fresh, but so much had occured in the interim.

 

Would they know what had transpired since Ragnarok? Would Loki have told them? _Would Loki be here?_

 

Thor swept aside his fear for the moment as he migrated through the dense crowd of merrymakers. This lingering apprehension, this doubt was the real enemy, the last enemy to be vanquished before the worst, and Thor was stronger than it. He lived in the present. He was here, and he wasn’t finished. He looked up and kept moving forward.

 

Only a few feet away, he spotted Hogun, so close and yet nigh impossible to reach.

 

“Hogun!” Thor’s voice sounded different here. It had lost the horrible brittleness that had crept over it since Thanos had broken... well, everything. Without him even knowing it, Valhalla was already restoring his strength. Hopefully, this was a good sign of things to come. Thor needed the hope.

 

He wasn’t sure how he heard the reply above the din, but Hogun swung around and rushed up to meet his friend. Thor didn’t bother to hide his surprise at the sight-his longtime companion and battle-mate, renowned through the centuries for his grimness and stoicism, looking positively delighted for probably the first time ever.

 

“Thor!” he exuberated, embracing his returned companion. Thor grunted as he took the hug. Even after so much time spent around Earth’s mightiest heroes, he was no longer so used to such strong hugs. It felt wonderful.

 

“It’s good to see you again, old friend! So Hela finally got the best of you, too?” There was that trademark deadpan. Seeing Thor’s confused smile, Hogun laughed, an almost novel sound. “Sorry, I forgot that you’re new here. Valhalla is great, yes, perfect really. Everything we could ever want, forever. But it is not like home. We are entirely isolated here. Cut off from time and space-when I got here, I had no idea what happened to Hela, to Asgard, to anything else. News comes in when somebody dies, so I know now, but... being in the dark, while battle rages on beyond your reach, is hard. And I need you to understand, Thor- _you did the right thing_. We would have died anyway. Because of you, we had hope, if even for an instant.” This did not make Thor feel any better. “Everything after she killed me, I found out from the survivors. And then... they all showed up here. And since then, we know nothing. Well, Heimdall knows. He has not said anything, but it is obvious. He is the only one who can see outside of this space, and he has been in no mood to share.” Thor scowled. He would have to fill them in on the events of the past few days.

 

“I think I can change his mind.” He thought about asking of Loki, but the words caught in his throat. The noise around him was starting to get to Thor. Wasn’t there anywhere here that he could just stop for a moment, and mourn, and come to terms with what he had to do next? Thor loved feasts and drinking and revelry as much as any Asgardian (more than most, actually), but even he needed his moments of peace to recover.

 

Hogun interrupted his thoughts. “Here. Let’s keep moving. I think there are some people waiting for you.”

 

Resigned, Thor gripped Hogun on the shoulder as he led the way through what felt like thousands of dead Asgardians. He seemed to have an easier time navigating than Thor had. Hogun looked back at him.

 

“You are going to tell us what happened after that purple monstrosity attacked, right? I cannot imagine it is anything good, if you’re here. The again, I suppose that now we are all here. All of us except Sif.” Thor’s eyes lit up. So Sif was still out there, fighting the good fight. “Sif’s outsmarted us all. Well,” Hogun gestured to a massive table in front of them, piled high with food and drink, “if you call avoiding this outsmarting.”

 

“Thor!” He barely had time to take in the delectable sights in front of him before a thick-fingered hand wrested him away and into an even stronger, vaster hug than Hogun’s. Volstagg, naturally.

 

Entirely devoid of air from being squeezed so tight, Thor struggled to speak. “Volstagg! H-happy to see you!”

 

Volstagg let him go and beamed. “Are you? Personally, I was more happy to see all of this!” He winked and picked up the nearest loaf of bread, shoving it in Thor’s direction. “Hela get the best of you, too?”

 

Thor took the bread gingerly. “Hogun asked the same thing,” gesturing to his other friend, now chatting away (about Thor, no doubt) to a flaxen-haired maiden who had wine spilled all down her front. “And no! You know as well as I do that _I_ defeated her, thanks a lot.”

 

Volstagg raised his eyebrows, as if to ask _then what killed you?_

 

“I don’t want to talk about it... right here. It’s a long story. Not one that’s particularly suited to drinking games and overeating.” Volstagg frowned but didn’t press further. “In any case, Hogun mentioned something about time and space working differently here. I need to learn more about that.”

 

“So serious! Where’s the Thor I know and love? Still in there, once you take away the kingliness?”

 

“I’m still me, Volstagg. But it _is_ serious. Look. Uh...would you grab him?” Thor tilted his head toward Hogun, who was now engaged in an elaborate dance-off with the maiden. He was clearly losing-it was almost reassuring to know that Hogun’s new genial attitude hadn’t banished all of his familiar stiffness.

 

“Yes, fine, that’s probably a good idea anyway. Don’t want our friend embarrassing himself in front of this beautiful lady!” Volstagg switched places with Hogun, wheeling him around to face Thor once again. Thor grabbed him by the shoulders, trying to gain stability again in the chaos.

 

“Time. You mentioned time. Can you explain that?”

 

Hogun tried to stop laughing long enough to catch his breath. “Yes, I said what I said! Norns, can you enjoy Valhalla for just one instance? We do not know for sure how all of it works. It has been very hard to tell, actually, how much time has passed since each of us has been here. The hours flow together, you see. We drink and eat and sleep and never know when one day stops and another starts. You will see.” He looked impatient to return to the maiden and Volstagg, who seemed to be getting the best of her in the dance-off.

 

“Okay, was that so hard? That’s helpful. Thank you. In any case, can we catch up more later? I have a lot to tell you, all of you, and believe me, I’ve missed you dearly. But I really do wish to see my family again.” Thor gave Hogun a rather sheepish grin.

 

“Of course, _sire_ ,” Hogun snickered a bit at his own sentiment. “I’m sure they’re heard you’re here now... wouldn’t be surprised if the entire nine realms heard it... Volstagg, what do you think? We’d better take him there?”

 

He looked loathe to stop, but kissed the maiden’s hand and relented. “Fine, fine, you’re right, as always! Onward!”

 

Again, navigating the revelries seemed much easier for the two warriors than it had been for Thor alone. They obviously felt so much more at home here than he did. Save Sif, everyone they had ever loved was here with them, safe for eternity-as far as they knew. Unceasing comfort, everything they could ever want for, without the fitful drunk dreams or the hangover or the anxiety of time weighing down on them. Must be nice.

 

As he was led through the crowd, each clap on Thor’s back, each promise of sharing a drink later, each joyful smile strengthened the growing despondency inside of him. So many dead here, yes, but what of those not of Asgard? So many of his friends, so many other mortals he would never know and yet held a foreign affection for, still suffering on Midgard or somewhere in the bleak cold of space with no promise of Valhalla. Were they to be abandoned forever, no doubt to be slaughtered by Thanos and his beasts, and vanish into nothingness? Thor didn’t know what happened when mortals died. He didn’t want to find out. This guilt was becoming impossible to ignore. He had let them down, and it was his duty to be their savior again. The promise of doom was not something he could sit idly by for.

 

And lo... Was sitting idly by, waiting for doom, not exactly what his brethren were doing? _What if Thanos could reach them here?_

 

Hogun had said they were outside of space and time, but now that he had all the infinity stones, would isolation keep them safe from Thanos? Or could he smash through the fabric of all matter and destroy them a second time, now permanently?

 

Thor knew the answer to that. And this was why Thor was not finished. Why Thor would not give up. He had too much left. He kept walking.

 

* * *

 

 

 

The crowd seemed to be thinning out the farther they stepped into the warm halls of Valhalla. Thor welcomed the reduction in noise. Volstagg stopped and turned to him.

 

“Remember, Thor. You’re in Valhalla. We are supposed to be _happy_ here. So don’t you go bringing them down like you’ve done with us. Have a drink, or twelve, and lighten up! Change isn’t coming anytime soon, so you might as well get used to it.”

 

Thor allowed himself a gentle smile to appease him. “I know, you’re right. Now why are we stopped? I wish to see my family!”

 

“They’re right here.” And with that, Volstagg manhandled him through the last group of merrymakers and Thor almost staggered, melting completely inside at the sight of all of them.

 

Odin, Frigga, Heimdall... Loki.

 

The table was sunken a few steps down, explaining why Thor hadn’t been able to find them before. Thor felt a rising in his chest and couldn’t stifle a relieved laugh.

 

Odin, at the center of the table seated upon a golden throne, Gungnir leaning against the armrest next to him. The king looked calm and dignified and expectant. And... empty, almost.

 

Heimdall, on Odin’s right, tight-lipped and more worried-looking than Thor had ever seen him.

 

Frigga and Loki, on Odin’s left, seated close together, hand in hand, chattering happily away.

 

It could have been any feast of Thor’s childhood on Asgard. But it wasn’t.

 

“Thor!” Frigga’s voice rang out first, sweet and strong, and it called into his very soul. He ran down the stairs and around the table to envelop her in his arms, and received the strongest hug back he had gotten since arriving in Valhalla. It was like she had never left. First to leave him, first to come back to him. It was right.

 

Frigga broke away and grabbed Loki, who had been sitting awkwardly in his chair while his mother and brother reunited. Was it awkwardness, though, that kept him there? Or was it respect? Thor knew which he thought it was.  


“Brother.” Loki’s smooth voice sounded young and warm again. His smile was entirely genuine.

 

Thor pulled him into yet another hug. Without breaking it off, he muttered, “Loki, I thought I’d never see you again. Really, this time.”

 

Loki moved back and looked him in the eyes. “I may be the rightful king of Jotunheim, but I’m as Asgardian as you are.” He made a face. “Now, don’t go thinking I planned this. I was as surprised as you are. When I got here first, I thought I was to stay outside in the cold. I thought it was what I deserved. My deathright. But I think Frigga must have sensed my presence, because she personally ran outside to come and bring me home.”

 

Frigga grasped his arm again. “Loki, you’re selling yourself short! You wouldn’t be here if you didn’t belong-the Norns wouldn’t allow it. Whether you like it or not, you are a part of this family, and I _know_ you’re happy you are here. And Thor,” she turned and beamed to him again, “we are so, so proud of you.”

 

Thor shot a quick smirk to Loki, who raised his eyebrows. “Ah, does that mean I’m the favored son again? Loki’s time is up?” Loki rolled his eyes even as Frigga narrowed hers.

 

“If I wasn’t so happy to see you, I’d smack you for that, Thor.” Her gentle voice and amused smile belied her harsh words. “Now, no more of this. Your father wishes to speak with you.”

 

Odin had been waiting patiently (no, stoically) while the rest of the family reunited. Frigga gestured for Thor to take her chair and moved to stand around the back of Odin’s throne, placing her delicate hands on his sloped shoulders.

 

Thor sat and faced his father, waiting intently for his reaction to his untimely death and reappearance here. The sound in the great hall seemed to ebb to nothingness, confining Thor’s attention and sensation within this sanctum of kings alone.

 

Odin stared down at the table, unmoving, and spoke. “This Thanos. Is he the one who ended our civilization?”

 

Thor grabbed the nearest full goblet from the table and downed it in a gulp.

 

This was the last thing he was expecting. Didn’t Odin know? Some of the Asgardians were certainly privy to who was attacking them, and in any case, wouldn’t Heimdall have told him?

 

No. Odin was testing him. Odin hadn’t seen Thor during his brief reign over Asgard-unless Heimdall had given him sight from beyond the rift between known space and Valhalla, and Thor wasn’t sure if that was even possible. The Thor Odin knew, the one from his very long memory, would have expected Thor to throw all seriousness aside in favor of sentiment and affection. And Thor knew that Odin would have had a point to believe that. Before the genocide of his people, Thor would have been angry, or at the least confused-couldn’t Odin have said hello, maybe? Welcome? I love you, son?

 

He still thought those things. But Thor knew he needed to control his words now. He frowned. “Yes, father. Thanos of Titan. Him and his...” he trailed off.

 

From down the table, Loki proffered his much more extensive knowledge. “Black Order.” Unusual. He still sounded pleased. In spite of Loki’s good mood, Thor felt a weight come down upon his chest again.

 

“Yes, the Black Order. Nasty beasts, they are. I made it off the ship we escaped Asgard on, and woke up surrounded by strangers. Well, they’re friends now. A rabbit and this tree... person... thing. I got a new eye, too, but apparently the Norns didn’t think it necessary to have it for me here in Valhalla. And I forged a new weapon. An axe instead of a hammer, this time. Stormbreaker. But... that didn’t last long. We then traveled to Midgard, to a country called Wakanda. I slaughtered thousands of the Black Order beasts in battle there, but they just kept coming. Worse than the Chitauri were,” he gave Loki a sidelong glance, “and they eventually got the better of me. Probably all of the rest of the Avengers, too. And now... well, I don’t know for sure, but I believe Thanos has all of the infinity stones.” He grimaced again. “ _Mostly_ completely sure, actually. And his plan is to slaughter half of the known universe.”

 

Odin’s expression didn’t change. He was still completely blank, listening to Thor but staring into an near-empty cup of evaporating wine. Frigga moved back around to Thor, cradling his head in her hand, stroking his cropped hair. Her voice broke the bubble surrounding the kings.

 

“You are so brave, my Thor. To keep fighting after losing so much... you truly are our greatest hero.” She shot Odin a derisive glance, though he didn’t see it. “But you can relax now! We are safe here. Have some wine. From what I’ve heard from everyone else, you haven’t stopped fighting since the day I left you.” Another weight crashing down upon his chest. “You deserve this. Valhalla is your reward.”

 

Thor’s worry increased. Frigga was Asgard’s most accomplished magic-weaver and scholar, save maybe Loki, and she most certainly understood the limitless power of the infinity stones. She was only trying to make him feel better, and it was backfiring spectacularly. What happened when he did let himself relax? Death and destruction and sadness, and Thor wasn’t going to let that happen to them again.

 

“Mother, that’s very kind. And I see how happy you all are here, and it makes me very happy, too. Maybe someday, I will be able to feel that as well. But... I don’t think that’s possible.” Frigga’s hand stopped moving, but she didn’t speak. “Yes, Valhalla seems perfect-safety and security forever. But Thanos isn’t like Hela, or Surtur, or anyone else in the nine realms. Maybe he used to be-maybe one day, long ago, he was vulnerable. Now, I am certain that he isn’t. One day, he will figure out that we are all still here, happy and prospering, just beyond his reach. I don’t know how the stones work, exactly, and I won’t pretend to know their full power. But someday what if... what if the infinity stones let him break down the boundary between the known and unknown and attack us here? He will slaughter us again, I am sure of it. He wants revenge. I made him angry. He won’t stop at killing half of us. This won’t be merely executing his plan, this will be retribution.”

 

Loki sat back in his chair while Thor was talking, clearly deep in thought. It was so unlike him to have nothing to add.

 

Frigga resumed her caress and sighed. “Thor, my darling. Let me think on this. And discuss it with your father, who has gotten very... quiet, for some reason. Please, relax. For me?”

 

Thor stood abruptly. “And how long must we wait to take action before Thanos decimates all the nine realms, all the moons and the stars, everything that has ever existed? Need I remind you, Father, that these are realms we’ve, _you’ve_ , sworn to protect! What gods are we to sit idly by in paradise while they are losing everything? You had sympathy for me when I lost all, and I always lived with the promise of seeing you again, of _Valhalla_ ! What promise do they have, Odin? _Yours?_ Will you leave their cry unanswered forever? Where is your sense of duty?”

 

Thor wasn’t sure who he was talking to anymore. The feelings he had bottled up inside seemed to be growing stronger with every minute spent on Valhalla, beholding the fruits of their labors while images of mortals being torn limb from limb flashed behind his eyes. He didn’t want to look at Odin’s black, emotionless stare anymore. He didn’t want to see his mother’s concern. He couldn’t bring himself to even spare a glance for Heimdall, who looked even worse on the outside than Thor felt on the inside. Because he knew exactly why. Heimdall was seeing everything. Witnessing firsthand the horrors Thor knew were happening beyond Valhalla.

 

“Didn’t you want to talk to me, Father, and now you have nothing to say? What sort of king are you to ignore your son?”

 

“Please, Thor, leave him be, just for now,” Frigga pleaded.

 

“Fine. I’ve said all I have to say. Let him think on it.”

 

The noise of the party was closing in on him again. This time, though, when he made his escape, he wouldn’t be looking for anything. Thor was looking for nothing.

 

He stormed up the stairs behind the table and past the rest of the revelers, searching for somewhere he could have privacy to think. There were several closed doors lining the back wall; he chose the rightmost one at random.

 

He wrenched the door open and was confronted with the last (well, maybe not the last) thing he expected to see-Fandral, being serviced by some other... ah... proud warriors. So _that’s_ where he had been.

 

“Thor!” he exclaimed. Thor averted his eyes and hastily started to shut the door. Now was really not the time for this. “Wait, wait, I’m getting up.”

 

“Fandral-are all of these rooms filled with... this?” Fandral extricated himself and came to the door to talk.

 

“Ah... probably...” he laughed. “It’s good to see you again, friend! Valhalla treating you well? When did you get here? Or perhaps I should rather ask, how did you get here? And when did you lose an eye?”

 

“Not as much as you are, I daresay. Listen, can we talk more later? I’m a little... exasperated at the moment.”

 

Fandral winked. “See Odin?”

 

“Hmph. Yes, I did. Tell me, is there anywhere in this entire damned place where I can be alone? Just for a few minutes, to... I don’t know, collect myself?” This wasn’t something Thor was used to asking for. He had rarely craved time away from his friends before. This worried him, and yet he knew it was right.

 

Fandral looked mildly confused at the question and Thor’s mood, but relented. “If you make a right and go all the way down, then make another right down the long hallway, there’s a door at the end of it that goes outside. To be honest with you, that’s probably the only place here that no one will bother you. Now, I think I need to get back,” he smiled dashingly again, “but you know where to find me.”

 

Great. Thor would have to walk past his family again. “Thanks, Fandral. You, ah... have fun. We’ll talk more later.”

 

“I’ll hold you to that!” he said brightly, and shut the door.

 

Thor snuck as quietly as he could back behind the high table, trying not to be noticed. Frigga and Odin were whispering fiercely to each other. Nice to see that it was only Thor’s presence that sent his father into that strange state from before. Heimdall was still cowering. Loki was gone. Nobody took notice of Thor.

 

The hall to the right was narrow and had countless more doors leading off doubtlessly to more rooms. Well, Thor thought, if Valhalla so kindly catered to all the Aesir’s other favorite pastimes, why would it leave this one out? Maybe that’s where Loki had disappeared off to, as well.

 

Thor continued at least a hundred yards down the hallway before reaching a wooden door, identical to all the rest, at the end. He dearly hoped this was the one Fandral was talking about, and he wasn’t about to be confronted with more of his friends doing things he really wasn’t in the mood to see right now. He decided to knock.

 

The door swung open and Thor was hit by a blast of cold air. There was nothing but snow ahead of him, swirling in tendrils around a small copse between the outer walls of the hall. The feeling started to soothe his temper immediately. He closed his eye and inhaled deeply, stepping out and shutting the door behind him. The noise from inside evaporated almost completely. Finally, peace.

 

A voice from the shadows startled him, making him jump. “Better?”

 

Loki laughed and stepped out from behind the door.

 

“Loki, _why?_ You know your tricks are the _last_ thing I need right now. Never before would I have thought that the _one_ time I wanted to be alone, you’d ruin it for me. Oh, wait! That’s exactly what you do. Every time.” Thor was starting to feel the wine getting to him.

 

Loki said nothing, but proceeded down the stairs in front of Thor to a small bench, muttering a spell to clear the snow from it. Loki knew why Thor was here. He waited for him to speak.

 

And so Thor did. “I just... I’m sorry. I know you didn’t come out here to be berated by me. You have to understand, it’s just so... frustrating, to be here while everyone else suffers. Nobody else here understands that! Nobody else here has ever _cared_ for anyone beyond our perfect _fucking_ civilization, nobody else has seen that they deserve to live just as much as we do...we _did_ .” Thor was working himself up again, but this time was different, this time the void outside of Valhalla was not reverberating his laments, but absorbing it. The sky was black and starless. The falling snow was coming from nothingness. Loki didn’t move or respond, so Thor continued. “Odin, Frigga... like yes, yes, it’s damned _great_ to see them again, but they don’t see what I see! They don’t see what Heimdall sees, or if they do, it doesn’t bother them! I... I don’t want to be stuck here forever. I don’t want to drink and fuck and be merry while I know Thanos is slaughtering half the universe. It’s not _right_. How soon before we see Valkyrie again? Before we see Sif?”

 

Thor’s voice had grown to a bellow. His pulse was increasing and he knew what should be coming; he knew the storm should be rushing in around him to pollute that perfect black sky and bring _fear_ to the inhabitants of Valhalla, maybe the lightning would strike _them_ , setting the entire place on fire so they had to leave and go back and find a new home and be once again the warriors they were born to be.

 

But it didn’t come. The sky didn’t respond. Thor was left venting to the void, a void which had no time or care for his petty discharge of emotion.

 

And yet... once the anger was out of him, it disappeared. The knowledge of what he needed to do still lived inside of him, yes. But the anger was gone. He spoke the truth, and the truth echoed back to him. Maybe Valhalla was giving Thor what he needed just as it was giving the rest of the Aesir what they wanted.

 

“I’m... I’m sorry, Loki. You don’t have to listen to this. I know we can’t go back. Valhalla is the final destination, and whatnot. Norns, maybe I just need to make like everybody else and give up the fight.”

 

“You can’t.” Loki’s voice was warm and gentle. Thor wasn’t expecting to hear it, and especially not like that.

 

It was like they were children again. Thor didn’t have to stop and think about what he said. He didn’t need a plan. The words would rush out unbidden, his barest feelings exposed in the open for Loki to take and mock and rebuke him for. But it was calming, peaceful again, to allow it. “What’s the point, Loki? We’re all here, forever. I love you. I love you, I love our parents. I love our friends, and that all of you are so happy again. I wish I didn’t have to be this frustrated over it all. I wish I could forget about what is happening outside Valhalla. And maybe someday, maybe soon, I will. Maybe that’s my new fight. Controlling my fear, controlling my instinct. I think, for now, I have not grown used to being dead. But I’m strong. I’ll do it someday. ”

 

“You won’t.”

 

Thor’s sorrow turned to anger again. He rushed down the stairs to... to do what? To punch Loki, to ask him to just believe in him for once, to trust him? _Hadn’t Thor lost enough the last time Loki had trusted him?_

 

Loki held his hands out, placating, as Thor approached him, expecting the worst. “Wait! Y-you don’t understand me. Would you just... would you just let me tell you the truth, for once in your Norns-damned life? Do you know what that even means that I’m _not lying to you?_ No tricks.  Just... Thor. Sit down.”

 

Chastened, Thor complied, taking the seat next to Loki on the dry bench. Fine. Let him talk. At least this way, Thor wouldn’t have to look at him anymore.

 

“Valhalla, it’s... it’s not what you think it is. I haven’t been here long, but unlike some, I’ve been paying attention. It affects us all differently. Gives us what we really want. For example, Fandral wants... well... you know. Volstagg wants his food and drink. And I...want to be _believed_.”

 

Thor said nothing.

 

“I don’t really feel any different here. Or at least, I didn’t until you showed up. I was perfectly content to sit there forever, getting drunker and drunker until I couldn’t muster a thought at all, knowing full well that it would never end. But now, I feel something again. Some strange sense of... motivation.” He waited again for the response Thor wouldn’t give him. “It was wonderful to see Mother again. Tell her all the things I never got to before. And I am grateful for that. Father said very little to me. He’s said very little to anyone, actually. Mutters with Mother when she isn’t talking to me. I don’t know about what and I didn’t care. But I’m starting to. I _know_ why your showing up here affected Father so much. Do you?”

 

“No.”

 

“You best be grateful that Valhalla has changed me, because I’m going to tell you. Isn’t that new? Odin is challenged by you. He may be Allfather here, still. He has power over this realm that no other has, although I don’t think he’s using it. I’m not even sure he knows about it, but I do. Because I read books. Bottom line is, he controls this place. Remember that, it’ll be useful later. But he isn’t king. There are no allegiances in Valhalla. Nobody cares about him. You saw the table we were at. Nobody vying for our favor, nobody trying to gain power. Scarcity doesn’t exist here. They’re all equals. And they don’t need us.”

 

Loki threw back his head and laughed. Thor just kept feeling sicker.

 

“They don’t want us, Thor. They see this endless meat and mead and think themselves sated, unwanting of anything else. But they aren’t. You’ve already felt it, I feel it now, and someday, they will too.”

 

“They don’t know what’s out there. They don’t know to fear.”

 

“You’re right. You’re right, and I can’t convince them otherwise. Heimdall is too comatose to say a word, though he clearly knows exactly what’s coming for us. Frigga is in denial. Odin is too weak to tell them. Nobody trusts me worth a damn.”

 

“With reason, you know that. Have you even _tried_ explaining it to them? Years ago, you knew of this threat. Years ago, and you said nothing. You knew he was seeking the stones. You could have warned us.”

 

Loki grabbed his brother by the shoulder and looked into his eye. “That’s in the past. Do you _dare_ to think so little of me that you wouldn’t _consider_ that I know that? That I’ve already hated myself enough for failing everyone so spectacularly? You know I never had much love for _our_ people. But I’m here. And that is not an effect of chance.”

 

Thor shook his head away and stared back down into the snow. “Fine. You’re right. The Norns know all. What does it matter?”

 

“What does it _matter_ ? Have you given up? Have you no hope left? Did you think, for one minute, that there might be another opportunity out there? That the infinity stones are not the only power in the universe? _We can go back, Thor._ Odin can do it. He has control over Valhalla. Over all of it. He can bring us all back.”

 

“Lie.”

 

Loki rubbed his temples, his own anger increasing as Thor’s had abated. “Why would I lie to you about this? I _just_ fucking told you that Valhalla has changed me. I _literally_ don’t think I can lie to you anymore. I don’t think I can lie to anyone, unless it’s for good. Go fucking ask Odin, if you don’t believe me.”

 

Thor didn’t know when he had started crying, but felt the warmth of a teardrop staining his cheek.

 

“Loki, you know why I can’t talk to you.”

 

“No, I don’t, why don’t you enlighten me?” Loki replied indignantly.

 

“It’s my fault.”

 

“Yeah. I know. A lot of this is your fault. Which part are you talking about, the fact that we aren’t all undead slaves in Hela’s army, taking over one half of the universe while Thanos takes the other half? Or the part where I get to be sad at the party while everyone else is having fun inside?”

 

“You. You are. The fact that you are here at all. Dead, in Valhalla, all of it. You should be... I don’t know, serving Thanos, helping him defeat the universe. Or fighting him, outsmarting him the way I know you can. Or dead, wherever frost giants go after that. Not here.”

 

“That’s irrelevant.”

 

“Loki, I’m the reason that you died. I sent you off to release Surtur for a reason. I didn’t think you’d come back. I didn’t want you to come back. I didn’t want you to be in danger. You didn’t need to do any of it, but you did. And for that, I’m sorry.”

 

“There’s nothing to be sorry for. It was my choice.” Loki grasped Thor’s forearm. “Did you not hear me before? Believe me, I like hearing you apologize to me. It’s a nice change. I appreciate it. But I was not just saying those things to make you feel better.” A tendon tensed in Thor’s arm against Loki’s grip. “We _can_ go back.”

 

“Back to what? What is there to go back to?”

 

“Shall I rephrase? We can go back, _before_ . Before Thanos had the stones. Before he had me. Back when he was just another weak, purple mortal. The might of every last Asgardian, aware of the stakes and ready to defeat him. Erase our history. Erase _my_ history. Bring everything back to what it once was.”

 

“Oh, that’s your ulterior motive, is it? I see what you’re playing at. Fixing your reputation, getting your revenge. Playing at selflessness as a means to your own ends. Clever, brother.”

 

“Fine, believe that. I don’t care. I’m doing it anyway. I’ll convince Odin, if you won’t. I’m just as much his son as you are. You’ll come back with us regardless. You don’t have a choice in the matter. Fight me, or fight Thanos. Make your choice, and know you can’t win both.”

 

Thor frowned. He was torn. Loki, telling the truth? Loki, confirming his exact suspicions and laying down a plan, beautifully in line with Thor’s, complete with details of exactly how and when they would save the entire universe? He couldn’t possibly be that lucky. It couldn’t be that easy.

 

“We’re not safe here, Thor. You already know that. Please. Don’t wait any longer. We can do this together.”

 

Thor started kneading his quad muscles with his hands. Loki was right. Wasn’t he always, though? Whether Thor knew it or not, Loki always had the upper hand. Thor was looking for wisdom. Why should he ignore what Loki was offering, the exact thing that Thor had been waiting for?

 

Thor muzzled his pride. “Can you just explain to me, plainly, what you mean by that? How does Odin take us back? How will we know when to go to, if there is no time here?”

 

“Were you not listening? I don’t know exactly how it works, I’m not Odin. As much as it pains me to say it, we need him. We need to convince him. And remember, Thor, Heimdall can see. Heimdall remembers all. He can show us when Thanos is most vulnerable.”

 

“Heimdall is so upset he can’t even speak right now, I saw him.”

 

“Where is the Thor I know? The Thor I know would never abandon hope like this. We have a plan. Whether you like it or not, I’m going back in there. They’ll listen to me. Here-you talk to Heimdall. He knows you know what he’s seeing. Maybe you can... get to him, somehow. If anyone can, it’s you. He trusts you. I’ll talk to Frigga. We need her on our side before we ask Odin to rip everyone away from the greatest pleasures they’ve ever known. Does that help?”

 

Thor felt strange. It was so unlike him to need others, Loki especially, to make him feel better, to make him feel hope. But it was working. His will was coming back. He thought maybe it was the void outside the snowy copse growing full of the sorrow and rage he had thrown into it, and now it was releasing it back to him in the form of faith.

 

Loki was right. Valhalla was giving him what he needed.

 

“Alright. I can do that. We’re going to do this.”

 

Loki smiled and stood up. “I knew you had it in you, brother.”

 

* * *

 

The air felt stiflingly hot and stuffy back inside. The hall had emptied out significantly; the cycle of partying and sleeping had progressed. It was much quieter now.

 

The high table looked much the same as they had left it, but Frigga and Odin were no longer talking. Frigga looked rather angry. Thor and Loki shared a look, and then split off to accost their respective targets. Thor vaguely saw Loki leading their mother away, surely they preferred privacy, but Thor chose to take the seat right next to Heimdall. He wanted Odin to hear this.

 

“Heimdall, I know you’re in there. I’m sorry. I know what you’re seeing. Believe me, I see it too. Maybe not the way that you do, but I know what’s down there.”

 

Thor waited, letting the words sink in. Patience.

 

But he only had so long. Thor placed his hand over Heimdall’s on the table. His skin was even hotter than the air felt, blistering up from within him. Thor could only imagine the pain his friend was going through. Heimdall looked up at him. His golden eyes looked darker than Thor remembered them.

 

Thor continued. “I know you know there is a way to fix it. Somewhere, it’s in there. I know it’s probably hard for you to remember right now, so I’m going to help you. Loki told me we can go back. Back to before Thanos had the infinity stones. And we need you to tell us when.”

 

Heimdall’s voice came out in a croak, but it excited Thor beyond all prior belief to hear him say anything again. “He’s growing closer.”

 

“Yes, yes, good! Well, bad, but... can you do it? Can you tell us when to go back?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Ah, that’s a delight to hear. I missed you, friend. It’s all going to be over soon. Can you just tell me how?”

 

“Odin.”

 

Well, Thor couldn’t say he wasn’t expecting this. He leaned over the table and looked at his father. “Well? Ready to talk to me yet? I know you heard all of this. Loki told me everything. We know you can do it. Send us back and save the entire universe from this madman, and only you can make that choice. Are you strong enough to do it?”

 

Odin’s jaw tightened, but he looked to Thor, eye to eye. Thor stood his ground. He had nothing else to say.

 

The tension was cut by the arrival of Frigga and Loki, back from upholding his part of the bargain. They were smiling, but resumed a serious demeanor upon seeing Odin. Frigga increased her pace, rushing down the stairs to confront him.

 

“Who do you think you are? _Lying_ to me the _entire_ time we’ve been here, telling me we’re safe, that we have nothing to fear, while all of _that_ is happening outside? All while you had the power to fix it all? You should be ashamed. You are no king.”

 

Odin stood abruptly, slamming his hands on the table. “Yes! I am no king! I am the Allfather, more powerful than any king, and you think you have the right to challenge my word?”

 

“Yes. Yes, I do. Our sons are trying to do the right thing, to save _billions_ , and you want no part of it! Will you finally care when Thanos comes here to slaughter us all again? What comes after that? Do you even know? Nothing! There is nothing beyond Valhalla! We go back, we fix this, or we die, and we die forever. I will not stand for your inaction any longer. Believe me when I say we will figure out a way to convince you. We have nothing else to do here but badger you until you submit. You might as well do it now.”

 

Thor felt his heart swelling at Frigga’s words, finally convinced that this really would happen and it was more than just a dream, a wild plan of Loki’s that would never amount to anything. He knew Loki felt the same.

 

"Very well," Odin said, sitting back in his chair. He was staring at Thor with an unfathomable expression that might have been rivalry. Thor found his father’s face difficult to read, now. "I may be accustomed to fighting for my way, but I know when to accept defeat. I see I will be overruled. So be it.”

 

A sigh of relief from all the rest of them. Thor started, “That’s great, Fa-”

 

“Silence. I will send us back. But I will not lead our people into battle. I will not strike a blow against Thanos. That is your responsibility, Thor. It is your turn.”

 

He felt Loki’s eyes boring into him and his pulse quickened. Loki knew what that meant. “Does that mean what I think it means?” Thor asked his father, whose weariness seemed to be increasing with each word he spoke.

 

“Yes, Thor. You mother is right. I am not king anymore. Our people hold no allegiance to me. Do you finally see? You are their king now, and you must lead them as a king does. You know this.”

 

“I understand.” It was strange-the proclamation made him feel no different. Perhaps it was because he had already played Asgard’s leader before, out of necessity rather than choice or decree, but he felt nothing in the sort of happiness or anxiety at the thought of being the true king. He simply felt resolved.

 

“You tell me when you are ready. Tell the people. Tell me when and where to bring us, and I will do it. But be prepared when the time comes.” Odin shut his eye and rested his head back on the throne.

 

Thor took a deep breath and looked around to the rest of his family. “Well, you heard him. Are you ready? Heimdall, are you okay?”

 

His reply was quiet but much stronger than before. “I’m ready.”

 

Frigga pulled Thor back into a hug. “I’m ready, too. Loki and I have some tricks up our sleeves. I know I’ve been saying this a lot, but I am so proud of you two. You are both stronger and kinder than I could have ever hoped for.”

 

Loki looked away, but Thor knew he was smiling at the sentiment.

 

“Alright, then. Let’s go ruin the party, I guess,” Thor said.

 

* * *

 

Thor wasn’t sure if there was magic involved, but Frigga and Loki were able to gather the entirety of the Aesir unnervingly quickly. They gathered before the high table, where Odin had vacated the throne. The Warriors Three had jumped at the news when Thor had gone to fetch them. As happy as they had looked here, nobody craved the thrill of battle again more than them.

 

Thor wasn’t nervous. The Asgardians had little choice but to comply with his plan. All of Valhalla would be vacated when Odin said the word, so the stakes of his speech were modest. That didn’t stop him from telling them why they were to go back, though. They had the right to know.

 

He looked through the crowd. So many more than he had saved off of Asgard after Ragnarok. The entire history of their people, living and breathing in front of his eye. They looked hopeful.

 

Thor took a deep breath and smiled. “Asgard. As I’m sure you all know already, we are all here now. Every Aesir that has ever lived, gathered back together on Valhalla.” A cheer from far back in the crowd made Thor snicker. “And it is wonderful! It fills me with joy to see my people prospering like this. But there is a problem.” Thor looked at Heimdall. “You have seen the poor state of Heimdall, the watcher, all-seer. Doubtless you have wondered why.” Thor hoped they had wondered. He hoped that they were not so blinded by prosperity and wine that they could not see their eldest suffering so. “I’m sure word of Thanos has spread. The murderer of our people, of peoples all across the universe. Heimdall sees each one of these deaths. I have seen thousands of them, firsthand. He is not an enemy we can ignore.”

 

The atmosphere in the room took a definite turn. Paranoia rising. Exactly what Loki had described.

 

“Thanos will not stop at the universe. We’ve pissed him off. One day, soon, he will have the power to breach the void separating us and him. And he will end us all, again. No more Valhalla. No more anything.”

 

Thor let that sink in for a few moments. Let the anxiety grow until they _had_ to get out of Valhalla, to let it out in glorious battle.

 

“But it doesn’t have to be this way. Yes, we all thought Valhalla was permanent-a refuge for our souls to enjoy forever. We are in danger here. And we have a plan to stop Thanos, forever. Ensure the safety of the universe. But it involves leaving Valhalla. I need you to trust me that where we go after Valhalla will be better than here. We will do battle once more. And we will be victorious.”

 

A hundred thousand jaws set at once. A hundred thousand Aesir tensed, ready for the battle that Thor was about to bring them to. Eternal prosperity was not their destiny. Righteous battle and honor and glory was.

 

“No longer will we sit in our place of safety, growing fat and drunk, forgetting what we were put here to do. We’re returning to the cosmos, to where we belong. We are not a part of time or space here, so we have the power to choose when and where. We are going back to when Thanos can be defeated. And we will lay waste to him and everyone who has ever threatened the universe with the scale of destruction he wishes. We are the harbingers of hope. It is our fate to be heroes.”

 

Thor felt the energy rising, the smiles of Frigga and Loki on either side of him, maybe even stout contentment from Odin behind. They wanted this too, he knew it. But he wanted to be sure.

 

“And now I ask, what say thee? Will we rise again to defeat the greatest threat the universe has ever known? Will we save billions from death under the purple titan? Will we be the warriors we were destined to be?”

 

Each and every Aesir roared out in unison, affirming Thor’s query, and the first cry came from Loki. Together, they had done this. And here was the result-his entire people, unified against a common enemy. He was proud of them. Proud to be their king. This was what it was to be of Asgard.

 

“Heft your swords and shields, steel your resolves and ready your spells. Heimdall, Odin, if you will do the honors.”

 

Thor smiled. They were going back. 

**Author's Note:**

> Sequel coming... someday :)


End file.
